Thanks for Setting the Alarm
by OTP324B21
Summary: Just a one-shot cophine AU thing. A quick narrative of how one action leads to a huge change.


If Cosima traced the events that happened one by one, she would know that she had Sarah to thank for the turn her life would take. She and her twin sister had always been close, and Sarah had always looked after her, so when she had gotten drunk, fresh off a breakup, Sarah had been there to watch over her. She had been tempted by red hair and a short skirt and had nearly followed the girl home if not for Sarah.

"You're shit-faced, Cos, and trust me you'll regret it in the morning." Sarah had steered her away from another one night stand that no doubt would leave her waking up in a stranger's apartment, lost, unknowing where she was. Instead Sarah had dragged her back home to their shared apartment where she remembered getting tucked into bed. "Don't worry, Cos." Sarah whispered as she slipped into the bed beside her, something she only did when Cosima was on the verge of breaking. "It's gonna be ok." She spoke before setting the alarm.

The sound of the blaring alarm was what woke Cosima that morning, something she was completely unused to considering she never remembered to set the thing. Sarah was gone for the day, off to pick up her daughter Kira from their foster mother Mrs. S. It was because Cosima was on time for probably the first time that semester that she found herself walking to campus at a leisurely pace. Had she been in a hurry, she wouldn't have had her nose buried in her phone, sending off a thankful text to Sarah for stopping her from a regretful situation. She also would have seen the red light she was crossing the street against, and the car that didn't quite manage to skid to a stop before it clipped her side, sending her spinning to the ground to the sound of screeching tires and slamming doors.

"Merde! Are you alright?" She could feel someone shaking her arm, fingers running over her face. "Please be alright! I'm so sorry...oh my god please." The words were followed by something Cosima was sure was French. "Call 911!" The frantic voice called out and Cosima wanted to stop her. She didn't need and ambulance, did she?

She could feel pain, but it wasn't severe, so she knew she wasn't dead. Then again she hadn't tried moving yet and she was sure her veins were pumping pure adrenalin. She settled on blinking her eyes first when it became blatantly obvious she was no longer wearing her glasses. The harsh morning light filtered through what looked like curly blonde hair, highlighting a pale face in almost an angelic hue.

"You're awake! Don't move! We have an ambulance coming."

"My glasses." Cosima managed to say, but speaking hurt. "I bit my tongue." Had she said that out loud? She guessed she did because she swore she heard someone laugh. It wasn't every day someone stupidly stepped in front of a moving car so she imagined there was a crowd. The blonde hair disappeared for a moment and Cosima wished it would return.

"I'm sorry. They are broken." The voice was wavering with emotion as the glasses were settled on Cosima's face.

Cosima blinked as she tried to cope for the one lens that had a webbed crack through the whole lens, the other cracked almost perfectly in half. At least she could see a little better as she took in the long form of the frantic woman who was on her knees beside her. "Shit...I'm going to be late for class."

"I am so sorry." The blonde began again only to be cut off by the injured woman.

"Stop apologizing." Cosima rose a hand to stop the apologies. "My fault." She looked up at hazel eyes much lighter than her own, feeling the world begin to spin. Years from now, the blonde would argue that Cosima passed out from the loss of blood. The shorter woman wasn't aware of it now, but one of her legs had broken severely, blood spilling out from where the bone had broken through the skin. But if you asked Cosima, she would say it was those eyes. They were a warm golden honey color that reminded Cosima of the sun itself, blending into an outer rim of a mossy green. They were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen and the last thing she saw before darkness overcame her.

It would take a few months of soothing frazzled nerves and maybe one or two drunken nights of bonding, but eventually Sarah would start to forgive the blonde for nearly killing her twin sister, but those days had yet to come and for right now, the sound of yelling is what pulled Cosima out of her hazy dream. Again she was missing her glasses and she felt a blanket of numbness over her entire body. "Hey hey hey..." Her voice was scratchy and damn her tongue hurt. "Why the yelling?"

"Cos! You're awake." Sarah was quick to her side, offering her an older pair of glasses that were a large improvement over the cracked lenses. "You've been passed out since yesterday. Mrs. S just left to pick up Kira from school." She cast an evil look at the blonde. "This here is the SOB that hit you."

Cosima looked turned her head and tried to sit up when the world tilted. "Ugh." She blinked away the sudden nausea. "Oh wow, hey." She gave the blonde a lopsided smile. "Forgive me for not getting up...but it looks like I'm kinda strapped to a bed." She joked, pointing at the leg that was strung up in a harness. "Sorry about your car."

"No...I am a horrible driver. It's all my fault." The woman shook her head, tears streaking down her face.

"Hey...don't cry." Cosima fought with the controls of her bed till she was properly sitting up, ignoring the confused look on her sister's face. "I totally wasn't watching and stepped into the road." She held her hand out, the one that wasn't bound down with IVs and oxygen monitors. "Cosima."

With a small sob, the blonde accepted the hand, shaking it gingerly. "Delphine. Enchantée."

Now Cosima grinned wider, the warmth of the woman's hand spreading up her arm and through her entire being. "Enchantée"

As upset as she was, Sarah would eventually forgive the blonde. She'd actually start to think of her as a sister, a thought that would be cemented by paperwork and exchanged vows exactly two years to the date of the fated accident. Of course she couldn't resist topping their wedding cake with a replica of Delphine at the wheel of a car just inches from hitting a replica of Cosima. It wasn't the cake topper that Delphine had ordered, but she couldn't be angry at her new sister. She'd grown so used to the constant references and jokes about the situation that she wouldn't have it any other way.

It was on that day that Cosima rose her glass to her sister. "There are many things I have to thank my sister for, so I want everyone to raise their glasses to Sarah. For convincing me that red heads were a bad idea and for being smart enough to set an alarm. Without her, I'd probably have a few less scars..." There was laughter at that and Cosima looked down at Delphine who was pressing her lips to the back of her free hand. "And I would never have found my true partner in life." She turned her attention to her sister who was trying to hide her eyes reddened by tears. "I love you sis."


End file.
